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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, as an Alexandria/Old Town resident, I can tell you honestly the bottom line is that you don't move to Alexandria City for the public schools. Anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional.

You DO move to McLean, Vienna, Falls Church, and North Arlington for public schools. But not Alexandria City.  Or I would wager to say even the part of Alexandria that is in Fairfax County, south of GW Parkway and Old Town.  The area is beautiful and elementary schools are decent, but beyond that, middle schools and high schools are meh. That's not to say that students don't do well at those schools, but they are neither nationally ranked nor ranked well even in the state.

As of now, residents aren't eligible for Thomas Jefferson, though the city has discussed the possibility of forming a relationship with the school vis-a-vis paying money to Fairfax County.

Anyone who moves to Alexandria does so because it's a historic, vibrant, ecclectic, and unique community in NoVA. It's location along the Potomac River is unparallelled, and there is a great sense of community in Old Town/Del Ray, with lots of community feel and variety of activities, shops, places, museums to visit. There are huge supporters of the AREA and, thus, supporters of the local schools.  Many of our neighbors send their children to public school and have been pleased with the outcome.  But....I would be hard pressed to say people move to Alexandria BECAUSE of schools. Not the case. We know several folks who have left the area because of the schools....despite all the other benefits the community has. Like anything else, it's a cost/benefit analysis, depending on what your priorities are.

We stay in Alexandria, despite the public schools, because we love the area itself and the strong sense of community, walkability, ease of commute to CD, history, culture, diversity, and opportunities for things to do near the water. We have considered moving to McLean or Arlington, but just cannot bear to part with Alexandria, despite the schools. So we are giving it a go and seeing how our kids do. [/quote]

I could have written this post.  Our daughter just started kindergarten at Macarthur.  (We live in Rosemont.)  Granted, it has only been one week, but I am already concerned.  The teacher is disorganized and scattered.  The saving grace is that my daughter will experience much more diversity in this classroom than she did in her pre-school.  And that is important to me.  [/quote]

Ask yourself why that diversity is important to you and be sure you're not romanticizing something.

My dd attended MacArthur. In first grade, she ended up being seated next to a boy from the projects who proceeded to regale her in explicit detail how to smoke pot in a bowl and how to be arrested, since he had witnessed both activities on a regular basis. She came home one day and demonstrated how to be frisked. (My dd, who is calm and a good student, was frequently seated next to badly behaving children with the expectation that she would be a good influence. Instead, she ended up coming home frequently complaining of being distracted). We had other similar incidents along the way.

Is this the sort of value you're looking for in your quest for diversity? Or do you have some sort of bennetton fantasy of little brown and white children playing nicely together under a rainbow while their Asian teacher strums a guitar and sings kumbaya? What, really, do you think this diversity adds to this classroom and the educational experience? I'm genuinely curious, because I often hear this "diversity is important to me" by people who don't really know what it is they're saying or hoping to achieve.[/quote]

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